Eagle-eyed viewers of reality program Farmer Wants a Wife who are familiar with the town of Gloucester and the Barrington Tops in NSW's lower Mid North Coast region will have seen familiar scenes and faces on their television screens over the last few weeks.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
In the past week, Farmer Harry (Harry Lloyd) took one of his ladies on a date to Aussie Ark in the Barrington Tops, where they cuddled Tasmanian devil joeys, and had a romantic dinner on the verandah of the Interpretation Centre.
In the same episode, all of Farmer Harry's ladies were taken to meet members of the 'local' CWA - and filling the screen was the big blue Gloucester CWA sign outside the CWA Rooms on Church Street. Here Farmer Harry's potential partners had a lesson in baking scones, and quizzed the CWA members about country life.
The word 'local' is in inverted commas, because Gloucester is not Harry's home town or where he lives or works. In fact, he is from another state entirely.
Channel 7 publicity says that Farmer Harry is a 23-year-old dairy farmer from Kyabram in Victoria, a place where the landscape is vastly different to the (currently) lush green rolling hills of the Gloucester district. And the lush green rainforests of the Barrington Tops - where Farmer Harry took two women on a date for a hike and a picnic in one of last week's episodes.
Apart from the initial introductory scenes on Farmer Harry's farm at the start of the season, all of the footage of Farmer Harry's 'farm' strongly appear to be filmed on somebody's dairy farm in Gloucester - drone footage of dairy cattle on steep green hills, mountainous backgrounds, and shots of The Bucketts - a dead giveaway to anyone who is familiar with Gloucester.
A spokesperson from Channel 7 confirmed that Harry's farming scenes were shot at a dairy farm near Gloucester and not in Harry's home town of Kyabram, saying it was because of COVID and that many television productions had to adapt through the pandemic to ensure filming was completed.
"The location of the farm didn't impact the series as Harry's ladies were able to experience life on a dairy farm with Harry, including the early morning starts!" the spokesperson said.
Channel 7 said they did not call the Gloucester farm "Harry's farm" at any time.
There seems to have been quite a bit of filming on the NSW Mid Coast.
Farmer Ben works on a dairy farm at Wingham and last week (Tuesday, September 13), all the farmers and their ladies were camping at on a site that suspiciously looked like somewhere between the Upper Manning Valley and Gloucester, perhaps on the Nowendoc River.
RELATED READING:
- Time to meet and word vomit at the farmers: Farmer Wants a Wife is back
- FWFFW 2: Dancing, dates, dirtbikes and spiros gets sent packing
- FWFFW 3: Hospital dash, a yabby on the loose, and farmers put to the teste
- FWFWW 4: A dance floor spill, pollination, and deep connections as farmers continue to chase a wife
- FWFWW 5: Time for dodgy dates, darts and ditching on Farmer Wants a Wife
Julia Driscoll
Julia Driscoll has worked as a journalist for the Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Times since 2014. She values the deep connection with community that being a rural and regional journalist brings. Email her on julia.driscoll@austcommunitymedia.com.au or phone 0419 377 894.
